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A new chronological model for the Bronze and Iron Age South Caucasus: radiocarbon results from Project ArAGATS, Armenia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2018

Sturt W. Manning ,
Adam T. Smith ,
Lori Khatchadourian ,
Ruben Badalyan ,
Ian Lindsay ,
Alan Greene Open the ORCID record for Alan Greene [Opens in a new window]  and
Maureen Marshall
Sturt W. Manning*
Affiliation:
Department of Classics, 120 Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
Adam T. Smith
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, 261 McGraw Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
Lori Khatchadourian
Affiliation:
Department of Near Eastern Studies, 409 White Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
Ruben Badalyan
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, National Academy of Sciences, 15 Charents Street, Yerevan, 0025, RA, Armenia
Ian Lindsay
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Purdue University, 700 West State Street, Suite 219, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
Alan Greene
Affiliation:
Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University, 15 East 84th Street, New York, NY 10028, USA
Maureen Marshall
Affiliation:
Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 105 International Studies Building, Champaign, IL 61820, USA
*
*Author for correspondence (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

The South Caucasus occupies the divide between ancient Mesopotamia and prehistoric Europe, and was thus crucial in the development of Old World societies. Chronologies for the region, however, have lacked the definition achieved in surrounding areas. Concentrating on the Tsaghkahovit Plain of north-western Armenia, Project ArAGATS's multi-site radiocarbon dataset has now produced Bayesian modelling, which provides tight chronometric support for tracing the transmission of technology, population movement and social developments that shaped the Eurasian Bronze and Iron Ages.

Keywords

South CaucasusArmeniaBronze AgeIron Agechronologyradiocarbon
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 92 , Issue 366 , December 2018 , pp. 1530 - 1551
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2018 

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